Edmonton to host Tour of Alberta this weekend

Duanne Vinneau, the CEO of the Tour says that there’s a new feature this year.

“The overall race finishes in Edmonton and we do a start and finish circuit in the Churchill Square, it’s 11 kilometres and we do it 11 times,” explains Vinneau. “But what we’ve added this year, is the day before, we’re doing a combined event with the ITU on Sunday.”

Vinneau says after the triathlon wraps up, bikers for the Tour will use their set up in Hawrelak Park.

He adds that while the forecast isn’t exactly perfect this weekend, it shouldn’t matter that much.

“We always like better weather obviously whenever you do an outdoor event,” says Vinneau. “But the cyclists are pros, it doesn’t really affect them that much. We just want to make sure we have good, comfortable weather for the fans to come out and enjoy these events.”

He also says little over 100 riders will take place from across the world.

“We have 13 teams of 8 riders so just a little over 100,” says Vinneau. “By the time we get into Edmonton some drop off along the way, so it’ll be approximately 100 riders that will be participating this weekend. And for those who don’t know, the cyclists in the Tour of Alberta are the best cyclists in the world. A lot of them have just competed this year in the Tour de France.”